IFBB Pro bodybuilder Hannah Hussein has waded into the ongoing debate about trans athletes in women’s sports, offering what she describes as a “unique perspective” as someone who has taken male hormones for competitive advantage.
In a recent video addressing her followers, Hussein explained her position stems from personal experience with anabolic ster**ds at levels that put her “well into the male range” – far beyond typical testosterone replacement therapy. Despite the dramatic physical changes, including voice deepening and significant strength and muscle gains, she says she could never replicate the structural advantages that come from male puberty.
“I still could never match the structural advantages that come from going through male puberty,” Hussein stated. “I’m talking about things that I could never change no matter how many hormones I took. Bone structure, tendon thickness, muscle fiber distribution, leverage, and even lung capacity. Those are not things that can be reduced with medication. Those are fundamental.”
The bodybuilder illustrated her point with a striking anecdote: “I had a male client come in who had never lifted a weight in his life and within a year he was deadlifting my max for reps.” She added that despite over a decade in the gym, most of it while using st**oids, “most women athletes simply will never surpass or even match the strength of a male athlete.”
Hussein was careful to clarify her stance on transgender people themselves. “I don’t believe there’s anything wrong with being trans,” she emphasized. “I believe that as long as you’re not harming anyone and you’re not pushing your agenda or your values onto anybody else, you should be able to live your life the way you want to in the way that makes you happy.”
However, when it comes to competition, she draws a firm line. “From my perspective, as a woman who has taken male hormones, I personally do not believe that it’s fair for someone who went through male puberty to compete in women’s divisions,” Hussein said, emphasizing her support for fairness to “female athletes who have trained as females and in female physiology their entire lives.”
Hussein stressed she wants all athletes, including trans athletes, to compete, but believes “the solution should be fair for everybody.” She explained that women’s sports exist precisely because of biological disadvantages in strength, power, and speed compared to men, calling androgens “powerful” based on her extreme personal experimentation.
“If I and people like me, even with the help of ste**ids, couldn’t close that natural gap, then asking a lifetime natural female athlete to compete against someone who went through male puberty feels extremely unfair to me,” Hussein concluded.
